KyuubiWindscar's Mind Probe
by KyuubiWindscar
Summary: A bunch of stuff I would have put out there if either I wasn't so lazy, or if that story hadn't been deleted. Might also have some spoiler fights from other stories I write. Not enough to guess the storyline, but it will be enough to satiate the masses...
1. RevengeVengeance snippet

**A/N**: Well, the idea behind this one is to start off my little ficlet type thing. Since I'm bored, and it's chapter one, I'll appease any Revenge fans, and hope that many upcoming fans enjoy this little tidbit of what my Shippuuden ideas consist of.

I ran through a couple of fights I was going to do, and I decided that the best one would be the meeting between Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino at the point where Sasuke fights Team 7 and pwns them..yeah...I hated that. So I changed everything. This wasn't pre-written, luckily, but the fight was permeated in my head.

In order to both lengthen this chapter, as well as get this freakin storyline out of my head, I'll get out all of the pertinent info beforehand so that this fight's significance, as well as the abilities some have.

In a large nutshell, Naruto was nearly killed a long time ago by some Iwa buttholes masquerading as Konoha-nin. Kakashi, blinded by stupidity, helped em. Years later, after being taken in by an old man who plays some significance a little later in this one, he joins Team 7. He gets cheap shots in on Kakashi until the Chuunin Exams, when Kakashi is detained until about this time in the story.

Before the Finals, Naruto trains with a secret sect of monks, who will all appear in a different fic. Unbeknownst to him, Ino trains in a different location by the exact same sect. Also, Ino's mother knew the monks, as they helped seal off her family traits...those of the Uchiha clan. So yeah, Ino has a fully developed and trained Sharingan by the time that this battle occurs. The political ramnifications are pretty big, but they don't pertain to this fight. And also, she and her mother don't 'reveal' themselves as Uchiha until a short time after Sasuke's defection. The reason...well...I'll write those fights later.

Anyway, Naruto and Ino return to the temple during the month before Sasuke's defection, going back to training. During this time, Naruto and Ino develop a unsually close friendship for only truly knowing each other for a short amount of time. Then, one day, Naruto leaves suddenly, going off to stop Sasuke from going to the snake. Instead, he gets into a scuffle with Itachi, one that has him go all the way to four-tails before Itachi takes him down. Akatsuki then unseals the Kyuubi, only to have the unsealing backfire when it somehow releases the beast. It turns out to be apart of Naruto and the monks' plan to stop Akatsuki anyway, as they use the distraction to get Naruto out of there.

Naruto, partially alive, gets revived later on by the monks, and spends three months in a coma. During this time, Sasuke has defected and gone to Oro, but it took him longer than usual to get settled in due to many attacks on his bases and whatnot.

When Naruto awakes, he returns to his training, and they return at this point, where Ino has been tasked to track down Sasuke and bring him back, along with a few other familiar ninja...

* * *

_Oto no Kuni, noon..._

In the wake of the explosion that just occurred, there stood the pride of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Sasuke. Wearing loose robes over his torso with black pants, he stared down at the Konoha-nin that had found his location.

Down below stood Hyuuga Hinata, Yamato, Sai, and Yamanaka Ino. Sai and Yamato had completely schooled faces, a testament to their ANBU training, while Hinata had a slightly crazed grin with her activated Byakugan, and Ino just looked plain angry. They prepared themselves to fight Sasuke, while he only laughed at their efforts.

"You really think that you four can defeat me? You can never hope to match my skill level now."

"Don't play with us Uchiha. You know that you are outmatched. Even without me here, they could still take you. With a real clan heiress here, you're just signing your death wish. Surrender, or prepare to die."

"As if you could kill me."

Sasuke began to draw his chokuto, and disappeared in a flash. Within seconds, he was right next to Sai, who barely blocked the strike intended for his heart. Sai attempted a counterattack, but his efforts were returned with a kick into the ribs that sent him flying.

"Pathetic."

He went to swipe at Hinata, but the mentally twisted Hyuuga bent her spine at an unnatural angle to dodge it. She then extended her leg to deliver a kick to Sasuke's midsection. The Uchiha wanted to laugh at the ineffectiveness of her attack, only to vomit blood before he could do so.

"Wh-what the hell?"

"They may say Neji is one of the most talented Hyuuga in generations, but whoever made that notion never expected me to have the skill that I have. Neji may be a powerhouse, but he lacks the finesse of the true Hyuuga heir."

"This wound means nothing."

Sasuke moved to strike Hinata, only to be intercepted by Ino and Yamato. Sasuke did some quick hand seals before he swung his sword with all his might.

"**Chidori Nagashi**!"

Lightning chakra surrounded Sasuke's body, and he cut Yamato's sword in half. Due to the surprise of having an ANBU ninjato cut so easily, Yamato could only avoid being killed by Sasuke's blade. But that didn't mean that he wasn't hit, as a long slash mark made itself known across the ANBU captain's chest. He fell to the ground, finding that he couldn't move.

'So, his lightning chakra paralyzes after the blow as well. What a terrible jutsu...'

Sasuke moved with speed unseen to Yamato to try and finish the job, but his blade was stopped by a sudden flame that was aimed at his head. He dodged it nimbly, but he was grazed by the two follow-up attacks. He turned to see who was attacking him, seeing Ino in a taijutsu stance and a strange chakra that surrounded her.

"What an interesting jutsu...I guess that some fangirls do train instead of just fawning."

"I haven't 'fawned' over you since the Chuunin Exams. The ways of the fangirl are lost to me."

"Sakura said the same thing."

"Sakura loved you too much to plunge her blade into you. Sadly for you, I know how to heal you, so I don't have the same qualms. I'd kill you now if I didn't have explicit orders not to."

"Explicit orders, huh? Then why isn't Sakura here then?"

Ino narrowed her eyes at the arrogant Uchiha before answering.

"She has other business...that you don't need to know Uchiha."

Sasuke smirked at the Yamanaka girl before activating his Sharingan.

"You say my clan's name so callously, it would seem as though you are underestimating the Sharingan's abilities."

Ino smirked even more than Sasuke. She closed her eyes before talking once more.

"No, Sasuke...I would never underestimate the power of the Sharingan..."

She opened her eyes to reveal her own fully developed, three-tomoe Sharingan.

"I just doubt that yours is better than mine."

Sasuke stood in awe. He wondered at first if this was some sort of genjutsu, but he instantly realized that his Sharingan would have seen through it. He wondered if her eyes were implanted, like Kakashi, but that thought was squashed as he saw that Ino's Sharingan was _activated_, not constantly in use, and the fact that her chakra had a strong resemblance to his and Itachi's. She was an Uchiha, and a legitimate member.

"H-how?"

"My mother was an outcast, and was primed to be executed for eloping with my father. While pregnant with me, she was able to seal off both our traits from the Uchiha clan, and even her ninja abilities. During the invasion by your _master_, she removed the master seal and my Sharingan activated instantly. In fact, she's serving on the council right now as the Uchiha clan head."

"So...you're an outcast...I wonder..."

"Itachi never knew of us. Besides, it's not like he would've come after us anyway."

"So, you don't feel any hatred towards him?"

"Not enough to make me join you, asshole."

"Then you are a traitor and I will finish what they started!"

Sasuke struck out at Ino, only to get a fist of flame coming at him. He narrowly dodged, but go another graze along his cheek. He backed up while performing handseals. Ino copied his movements perfectly, and they both performed the jutsu at the same time.

"**Katon**: **Ryuuka no jutsu**!"

"**Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu**!"

Both flaming dragons collided with each other, cancelling each other out. Sasuke was about to perform another jutsu, but he stopped in order to dodge the dragon that was formed out of the two fires that were supposed have died out after they impacted.

"What the hell? How can you do that?"

"I control fire itself. I actually live up to my pedigree as an Uchiha. The fan feeds the flames. Nobody likes lightning Sasuke."

The Uchiha heir merely glared at her, attempting to trap her in a genjutsu. Before he could, however, he felt cold steel at his neck. He turned to see Ino with the Magenkyou in her eyes, and he almost blanched in response.

"That's impossible!"

"Of course."

The 'Ino' next to him dissolved into nothing, and he found that he had a restraining seals placed all over his body. The real Ino was standing across from him, smirking almost evilly. Sasuke only looked on in confusion, only to realize the true cause of his predicament.

"Genjutsu..."

"Of course. I don't have the Magenkyou, although I am working on a way to obtain it without the best friend killing thing. But what I do have is a comprehensive knowledge of the human mind due my status as a Yamanaka, and a pretty well written psych profile on you. Capturing you in that genjutsu was as simple as performing a **Bunshin**."

Sasuke growled in anger, but he only felt the restraints get stronger. He looked behind him, seeing Yamato still holding the ram seal. The Mokuton user only stared impassively at the Uchiha boy, angering the teen even more. Next to him was the Hyuuga heiress, who looked bored beyond reason now that Sasuke was captured.

"I told you to give up Uchiha. We've got numbers, and now you know that we have skill as well. The only reason that you're needed alive is for breeding material. Ino isn't in line for succession in your clan, and her mother is the head by way of being the only loyal Uchiha of age. Come quietly, or else."

"Or else what? You'll kill him?"

Hinata cursed as her rant was cut off by the timely arrival of Orochimaru. Next to him was a white haired man that had a zanbatou on his back, and another with spiky orange hair. The first man looked slightly bloodthirsty, while the second looked like he was concealing his emotions the best he could.

"Damn, you just had to show up, didn't you snake?"

"Don't sass me you naïve Hyuuga girl. I'd kill you now if I didn't want your special eyes as well as Sasuke's. In any case, I can't let you take Sasuke away. I've grown attached to him, unfortunately."

His tone made Hinata and Ino shudder in disgust, but they quickly schooled themselves and prepared for battle.

"Aren't you going to come and get him?"

"Why would I need to? Kabuto has already made arrangements for his retrieval."

Ino's Sharingan eyes widened as she noticed four evil looking chakra signatures emerging from the ground. She attempted to grab Sasuke, but the chakras' sources emerged from the ground, four curse seal monsters, and surrounded their master. Ino only looked on in disgust as one of them tore off some of it's flesh and put it over Sasuke's curse seal. The Uchiha boy healed almost instantly afterward, and the beasts tore off the restraint seals. He stood once more, anger and hatred in his eyes.

"Now we finish this."

"No, Sasuke, we're leaving. This place is getting a little...crowded."

Sasuke looked at the Sannin in defiance, but quickly complied with the order without a word. Ino and Hinata, as well as a recovered Sai, all made a move to stop him, only to have the two men that flanked Orochimaru stop them, as well as the four curse seal monsters.

"I'm afraid that you won't be stopping us anytime soon. Sasuke, let's go."

"Don't stop on my account."

Before they could react, the four monsters met an untimely end from decapitating slashes from a naginata. The weapon's owner had bright yellow hair, wore an orange robe over a loose black shirt and orange pants. On the back of the robe, the kanji for wind was stitched inside of a circle. The icy blue eyes and whisker marks gave away the teen's identity as Uzumaki Naruto.

The Konoha-nin, as well as Sasuke, all looked astonished at both Naruto being alive as well as his skill with a weapon he had never been seen using before. Orochimaru looked just plain pissed, while the two subordinates were simply impassive.

"So...you're alive?"

"I would have told you, Ino, but I needed to stay incognito. I stayed at the temple in Kaze no Kuni. It was the only place I could practice my **Kuuki Mage** without distractions."(Air Bending)

"Are you returning with us?"

Naruto shook his head.

"I still have..."

A flame blast nearly took his hair off. He deflected it at the last second, allowing him to keep his current appearance. He turned to see a pissed off Ino. He merely sighed and got into a stance with his naginata.

"I'm guessing that this wasn't a request."

"It wasn't."

Ino charged at Naruto, who only jumped away from the strike. He shook his head in exasperation while turning to see that Hinata and Sai had engaged the two others in single combat. He turned to see Orochimaru and Sasuke beginning to leave, only to be nearly killed by a chakra claw strike that destroyed whatever was left of the base. Orochimaru went from irritated to apprenhensive, knowing that the new arrival was no pushover.

"Iruka-kun, I wasn't expecting you."

Sasuke looked in confusion, only to see his former academy teacher walking towards the two of them. Iruka wore a white jacket and white pants, having no shirt underneath. His face hadn't changed in the slightest, except him missing his hitai-ite and his demeanor was one of a trained killer, not a teacher.

"So the schoolteacher did have some skill."

"Sasuke, do not underestimate Iruka-kun. He outclasses you in ways you can't even dream of. That attack was akin to you throwing a kunai at a civilian to get your point across. He isn't even breathing seriously yet."

Sasuke's eyes widened, but he didn't get the chance to ask another question when a bolt of lightning struck right next to Iruka. A man appeared in the wake of the bolt, having black hair that flowed almost endlessly, a tachi on his waist, a black haori over a white kosode underneath, and black hakama. His stern brown eyes looked at the two criminals with veiled contempt.

"So...I finally get to meet the famous Uchiha heir. Doesn't look near as skilled as the Yamanaka girl, however. She's at least dangerous."

"Kaname-san, don't underestimate him. That little show earlier was barely a fouth of his capabilities. Ino won because of her superior intelligence and talent in genjutsu using the Sharingan, as well as her knowledge of Sasuke's mind itself."

"I'm not underestimating the kid, Iruka-san. It's just that I've seen the Yamanaka girl in action as well, and she held back considerably in that little scuffle they had."

"Do you two want to get out of our way? We have more important things to worry about than some old teacher and a sword holding loser."

Iruka and Kaname both smirked at Sasuke's arrogant comment, but they quickly got serious as they prepared themselves mentally for battle.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself in your earlier fight, so why don't we just continue where you left off? Iruka, you want the snake?"

The former academy worker put his right hand over his face, a bloodthirsty grin placing itself on his face as he did so. With that, killing intent comparable to a Bijuu washed over the two Oto-nin, causing Sasuke to activate his Sharingan just to _resist_ it, while Orochimaru was able to resist it rather easily.

"With _pleasure_!"

Finishing his sentence by pulling his hand over his face, chakra emitted from the hand formed a mask over Iruka's face. The portion above the mouth was shaped like a panther's skull, while the lower end simply had a teeth-like design on it. The mask itself was a dull gray in color, and behind it Iruka's eyes had changed to yellow pupils with black sclera. His entire presence changed around him, causing the air to become oppressive and heavy. The other three warriors merely shrugged off most of the effect, however, giving a testament to how strong they were.

"_Now, let's have some fun!_"

Iruka pointed his right index and middle fingers at the two snake users, and chakra began to gather extremely quickly to the area. Orochimaru's eyes widened as the chakra quickly compressed and was released before he could properly react.

"_Cero!_"

A bright flash was followed by an explosion of enormous magnitude. Kaname whistled at the destruction and power, and gave a smile and thumbs up to Iruka. The masked ninja didn't give any returning gestures, instead focused on what was going to come from the smoke cloud.

"What's with the serious look, Iruka?"

"_They are not pushovers. Be on your guard._"

Kaname smiled at Iruka's comment, which gave no warning as he drew his tachi and nearly took the head off of Sasuke, who had attempted to attack from behind. The Uchiha boy only kept his cranium because of his Sharingan, and it showed when he suddenly felt blood coming from his arms and chest. He stumbled backwards, staring at the man he'd tried to kill only moments before.

'What is he? I barely saw the first strike with my Sharingan...I only saw a couple of others because he struck the same area multiple times...'

Kaname's mirth filled expression from before was completely gone, and his blade was poised to kill the Uchiha boy.

"You know, it's pretty rude to attack someone from behind. Not too honorable."

"Honor is useless in the shinobi world. You should know that."

"Well, just to clue you in, I'm a samurai. I used to be allied with the Fire Daimyo, but he's got guys like you protecting him now. But now is not the time to discuss such frivolous political matters..."

Instantly, lightning began to surround Kaname's body. Sasuke thought it was chakra at first, but he noticed that an aura of strange chakra was _creating _the lightning. He wondered how such a jutsu could exist, just before one of the lightning bolts nearly struck him in the chest. He stared at the burn on the rock behind him, noting that it was just as powerful as a Chidori, just unfocused.

"You..."

"What? Naruto wants to separate you and the snake, permanently. He knew that Konoha would send ninja, ones that he knew, so he went ahead to distract them. Iruka's fighting Orochimaru, and I decided to tag along. I heard that you know something about lightning. Let me show you how it's done."

Kaname's body exploded in lightning, his strange chakra increasing tenfold. Sasuke steeled himself, activating his Chidori Nagashi. The two raised their swords, and promptly vanished in pure speed. They reappeared after closing the distance between each other, their swords clashing. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly before he jumped backwards, a bolt of lightning from the air above nearly killing him. He shakily rose his sword toward Kaname, who only chuckled before dispelling his lightning aura.

"I wanted to play around a little, but it seems that you can't sense my attacks as well as predicted. So, let's wrap this up."

"Indeed, you foolish samurai."

Before he could react, a horde of snakes wrapped around Kaname's body. He simply channeled his chakra, and lightning once again streaked around his body randomly, shocking and killing the snakes. He looked at the perpetrator, who was on top of the snake boss, Manda. Below, Iruka stood completely still, before holding out his entire palm towards Orochimaru. He then channeled a blue and black colored chakra in his hand, before it compressed and he released it.

"_Gran Rey Cero!_"

The blast was fifty times the power of his original blast, and even more times faster. It engulfed Manda completely, and Iruka smirked at the damage he'd done. His mood was shot when he saw shed skin, or parts of it rather, laying on the ground instead of the snake boss. He cursed before looking over at Kaname's area, noticing that Sasuke sank into the ground suddenly. Kaname looked confused, only to see Iruka shatter his mask.

"What happened?"

"_They_ got away. He's gone. Let's tell Naruto..."

"No, not yet. He's still fighting with the Yamanaka girl. And it looks like it's getting interesting."

"Like how?"

"From how she's countering his moves, I'd say that her Sharingan is activated."

"So she has the advantage...unless Naruto picks up the pace."

They stared on as Ino sent flame after flame at Naruto, who simply used air currents to deflect them. Ino then formed two flaming whips in her hands and began to strike randomly at Naruto. He dodged the first strike, but the raw control Ino possessed over the whips got him twice before he formed an air dome to stop them.

'Damn...Sasuke and Orochimaru are both gone, and that means this mission is a failure...I wish Ino would let me off that easy. With her Sharingan active, I can fight her using **Mage** techniques alone, since she'll just predict them before they happen. This was so much easier when she only had two tomoe...'

Naruto punctuated his last thought by crossing his fingers together in a familiar seal. Ino scoffed at his plan, preparing another blast of fire to stop him. She shot it with a powerful punching thrust, and it almost reached Naruto before she heard him speak.

"**Kage Bunshin no jutsu**."

A wall of clones blocked Naruto from the flames, and another one was present behind the original, who simply pointed his naginata at the Yamanaka girl.

"You sure that you want to go through with this?"

"You're coming back with us, Naruto. No matter if I have to break your arms and legs or burn you half to death."

Naruto chuckled at the notion before sighing once more. He relaxed his entire body before simply channeling more chakra than he already had. He looked up with a mix of seriousness and irritation in his eyes.

"Fine, then I'll just have to fight fire with fire. **Kitsune Bi**: **Houou Suto**!"(Fox Fire: Phoenix Strike)

Instantly, silver colored flames appeared around Naruto, forming a phoenix within seconds. Just as soon as it formed, it launched itself toward Ino, who simply clasped her hands together before separating them. She stared on in amazement when the phoenix didn't dissipate, or even break apart.

'What? Even fire jutsu that use regular chakra would vanish when I do that? What the hell is this **Kitsune Bi**?'

She braced herself for impact, only to have the phoenix simply encase her in its body. She felt no burning sensation, which gave away the true essence of Naruto's technique.

"Hmph. A **Seishin-teki shojo**."(Psychic Manifestation)

From outside the flames, she heard Naruto's voice.

"Exactly. If you try to leave, the outer flames _will_ burn you. You just have to wait until it dissipates, after I've left far from here."

"I won't stop just because of this little setback, you know."

"I do, Ino. I do."

Within a minute, the fire was gone, and only a pissed off Ino, an unconscious Yamato, a slightly wounded Sai, and an impassive Hinata remained.

* * *

So, what do you guys think? Do you regret that I gave up on the Revenge series?


	2. Spoilers

**A/N**: Well, I've been busy. Since high school did not prepare me as well as it should have for college, I've been having issues. Trying to get my head on straight, hoping for a chance encounter with that one girl(you guys know what I'm talking about), and pull myself out of the gutter has been hard. So, I decided to finish this thing I started like, last month. Helps keep the brain healthy and all that.

As for updates...well, I have Turtle Destruction Wave, and a new story in the woodworks. I figure after I post this, I'll probably start on R&D's next chapter, which should help cure this nearly year long block, and maybe even get a little more of Memoirs done. That one will be long, and this spoiler is toward the end, so enjoy your teasers...

* * *

Memoirs:

_In the jungles of Grass Country..._

It was dark. Very dark. The already minimal moonlight was blocked by the thick foliage that happened to hide Kusagakure no Sato. It also happened to be in the final stages of a waning moon, with a new moon coming within the week.

Two Grass-nin were moving at a hurried pace, from the amount of sweat on their foreheads and the looks of terror on their faces. The sight they had been greeted by only minutes before was gruesome beyond reason. They stopped, knowing they were miles away from the battle and the carnage that had fallen upon the losers.

"Daisuke...what are we doing? I mean, we all knew that helping Konoha would mean pseudo-servitude in the end...but was it really a good idea to leave our alliance and go rogue to _both_ sides?" said one of the Grass-nin.

"Hiei, I can't even tell you what I think anymore...I mean, it felt good to finally get some freedom from those two powerhouses only seeing us as a buffer zone for their enemies, but I'd never think that they would have responded in that fashion," said Daisuke to his friend in a slight panic.

They could only stare at the ground, but they soon jumped away, avoiding a volley of kunai. They turned to the source, seeing a single ninja standing on a nearby branch. His hitai-ite, representing Konohagakure, rested on his bicep, his flak jacket was worn over a blue t-shirt, with matching pants and sandals. His pineapple-like haircut was now a trademark, denoting him as Nara Shikamaru, Konoha's Glorious Strategist.

"You two trying to escape? It's futile you know. You should have just stayed in the alliance. Now, instead of just being a satellite nation, you're an example. Something all villages will look to before they double cross Konoha."

"You bastard! It's because of you that our village has been burned to the ground! You and that monster Uzumaki..."

"What else would you expect from stabbing someone in the back? We weren't going to bake you a cake, traitors."

"Well, it doesn't matter now. We've got the advantage. You may be a strategist, legendary in status, but we're two of the best to ever come out of Amegakure. Being able to escape that rampage with only you being able to find us is a small testament to that," said Hiei with a smirk.

"Yeah, and besides, from what I hear, you're the weakest of the Nine Flames anyway," said Daisuke while drawing a kunai.

Shikamaru bit his thumb and slammed it into the ground, quietly saying, "**Kuchiyose no jutsu**."

Expecting a giant forest creature, Daisuke and Hiei raised kunai and prepared to come up with a plan to take it down with the famous Glorious Strategist. While they doubted they could outsmart the legendary strategist that stood in front of them, they knew that they had a numbers advantage, and that two jounin who worked together for years against a man who usually fought in a team of three that was now alone put the odds in their favor.

Until they saw _it_. Shikamaru didn't summon a giant fowl, or a ferocious canine, or a sneaky reptile. The creature that was in front of them could not even be called an animal. When it opened its six eyes, they felt as though they were looking at something that symbolized death itself.

"_Kukukukukuku...so, my new summoner beckons me? I see that I am a bad influence on you, Shikamaru._"

"Cut the chitchat Akumu. We have more important business right now," responded the Jonin Commander of Konohagakure.

"_Ohhh, but witty banter is half of what I do. Nothing inspires fear like bad jokes coming from something out of a bad dream,_" replied the creature.

Not wanting to find out what exactly this thing did, Daisuke and Hiei launched a joint assault on Shikamaru. However, seconds before their kunai entered his neck, they felt their entire bodies stop.

"**Kagemane no jutsu**? Isn't this trick a little too simple for a jonin?" asked Hiei.

"It is, but that's not a..." replied Shikamaru before his two opponents were bound and gagged by their own shadows.

The Glorious Strategist simply turned and began walking away, before turning back and saying, "I'd say enjoy your last moments alive, but then I'd have to fire my summon for not doing his job correctly. Instead, try to leave a mark or something before you die. It'll help others to know not to cross Konoha again."

The two Kusa-nin briefly showed horror in their eyes, before they were consumed by their shadows and a fear-inducing cackle resounded through the area...

* * *

R&D:

_A few kilometers outside of Tanzaku-Gai..._

"You know...something told me that he would bring those," said Naruto as he looked up exasperatedly at Orochimaru standing on top of two large, purple skinned snakes with bone-like masks on their faces.

"And I would suppose you know what these snakes are?" asked Tsunade.

"Not really, but if you become Hokage, I know a guy you can force to do it," replied the younger blonde ninja.

"...still no, kid."

"It was worth the try."

Suddenly, the snakes lurched, attempting to swallow the two whole, only to meet a fist from Tsunade. The reptile-like monsters hit the ground, unmoving.

"Is that all?"

"I think we should move," said Naruto with a shakily calm voice.

"And why would you say that?" asked Tsunade in disbelief.

Naruto simply activated his **Yoko no Suneate**(Demon Fox Greaves) and jumped to avoid the secondary attack from the two almost uninjured snake creatures. Tsunade simply hit them again, her efforts awarded by nothing more than small bruises barely larger than her fists. Not only that, she noticed that her own hands were slightly injured from punching them.

"What are these?"

"Kukukukukukuku...my new pets..."

* * *

_Valley at the End..._

"So, are you here to take me back?" said Sasuke with a smirk as he peered over at Naruto.

"That depends. How willing are you to going back?" asked Naruto in a sarcastic tone.

"That village was holding me back. All the power I ever wanted is just beyond these borders. Friends? They're nothing but a crutch on the way to my ultimate goal!"

Naruto shook his head in distaste as he responded, "So being a pawn in someone's plan of pseudo-immortality is just that appealing to you, huh?"

Sasuke responded by charging his blonde teammate, activating his now complete Sharingan to show his anger. It was then did he notice something that was out of place. His realization, however, was too late when he found himself being absorbed by Naruto's body.

_'What is this? There's no ninjutsu like this...'_ thought Sasuke as he attempted to break through with all his might.

During his struggle, he lifted his head, finally meeting eyes with the strange anomaly that was now his teammate. There, he saw that Naruto's eyes were no longer cerulean blue, but a deep crimson, and they were slitted. Staring into them with his Sharingan, he was surprised as the pressure on his body dissipated instantly, and Naruto was no longer standing in front of him, but was sitting a few meters back, with a bored expression on his face.

"What...what was that dobe?"

"Don't tell me you can't detect simple genjutsu now, Sasuke? It wasn't all that complicated, nor was it layered, so I'm amazed that you couldn't break it. Or...was it that you thought that my control was too low to use the illusionary arts, and that the technique _had_ to be a ninjutsu?" asked Naruto with a smug look on his face.

Sasuke's confidence levels dropped instantly. He knew very well that the Naruto he knew would be a challenge, but one he could certainly defeat with enough effort. This Naruto, however, was a different story. It wasn't just his ability to wield genjutus, but instead the fact that he seemed to have a comprehensive knowledge on the subject, and that Naruto was _toying _with him. His fight, which he was sure he'd win a few minutes ago, just got ten times harder...


	3. Previews

A/N: I've had a long time to think over reasons to quit. In the end, none were really worth it. If you've read my profile recently you'll know about some of the struggle I've been in. But the main thing with me is that I haven't had real inspiration. Or perceived time. So I decided to make a comeback and attempt to finish something correctly for once in my short life. Anyway, I decided to write some of these previews to spark some more interest while I cook up something in the lab.

Also, I've decided against using Japanese names for my attacks. Only names that are popular in Japanese (e.g. Rasengan, Chidori,) or those I really dont like in English (e.g. Sankon Tessou, Kaze no Kizu). All attacks will still be in bold, however.

* * *

**Written in the Blood**(Title susceptible to change)

_Village of the Taijiya..._

A fiery explosion erupted in one of the huts, shaking the ground violently and spreading heated shrapnel across the area. The lower half of a demon fell listlessly, as the other half had been stuck in the unfortunate hut. All around this, many other huts were either in ruins or quickly becoming so as an innumerable contingent of youkai attacked only minutes earlier. Unarmed villagers ran for cover, tried to hide in their abodes if possible, or simply stood frozen in fear of the monsters attacking their homes. Slayers everywhere were desperately trying to combat the invading horde, some more successful than others. In the middle of the village, Sango stood tall trying to rally her troops, hopefully in an attempt to drive off the invaders.

A demon swarm approached her and Miroku, the latter sporting four broken limbs at this point. Sango whipped her weapon around her shoulder and launched it at the swarm, cutting many in half. It wasn't enough as the youkai seemed to triple in amount after her attack pierced their front line, but that number was cut down again as the Hiraikotsu made its return trip. She caught her weapon deftly, but the evil creatures still advanced just as quickly.

"Akira! Akina! We need reinforcements over here!" screamed the veteran slayer at two nearby teens dressed in slayer garbs as well.

The two nodded their head and cut down an oni that attempted to attack from behind. They immediately charged at the swarm of youkai, both holding twin wakizashi blades. Akina's blades began to glow a dull pink as she approached the demons, while Akira suddenly jumped above the swarm.

"**Purifying Blade**!" screamed Akina as she sent shockwaves of pink energy at many of the youkai.

As most of them fell to his sister's blade, Akira smirked behind his mask and readied his blades. He focused his vision, and the youketsu of the remaning swarm members became visible. He swung his twin blades in rapid succession, cutting each of the youketsu as they passed him, causing the remaning demons to fall to pieces on the ground.

The twins landed next to their mentors, quickly assessing the area to make sure it was safe for a brief respite.

"What's the situation? Is Miroku-sama alright?" said Akira shakily as he saw Sango leaning over her husband.

Sango sighed heavily before saying, "He's stable, but all of his limbs are broken and getting medical help seems impossible right now. What's the status of the village?"

Akina replied, "We're holding them off, but the demons just keep coming...Serina and Suzuna are holding off a particularly strong youkai at the gates, but we'll need our full forces to come out of this one alive."

Sango muttered a curse under her breath. Her only positive thought was that her children were away from the village at the moment. The possibility that they may become orphans before the night was over weighed heavily on Sango's mind before an explosion of blue flames hit a cluster of demons near where the twins had said the ninja sisters were fighting. A buzzing sound entered the ears of the three demon slayers as a wicked looking kusari-gama blade tore through and residual demons escaping the blue flames.

As the smoke and debris cleared, two teenage boys stood amongst the carnage of burnt and diced up demon parts. One was dressed in the same taijiya garbs as Sango and the twins, only with right arm's sleeve torn off, and the other was wearing an orange and red kimono with blue hakama with an orange obi tying it together. His fox tail revealed his identity as a kitsune youkai, while fire burned around his clawed hands as he searched for another opponent.

"Sango-sama! Kohaku-sama and Shippou-san are here! We're saved!" exclaimed Akina as hers and her twin's morale increased tenfold.

Sango stared in mostly disbelief, only to be broken out of her stupor when Kirara nuzzled up against her, who had appeared around the same time as the boys. Sango began to tear up as she hugged her old companion, but quickly realized that her husband was still in possible critical condition.

"Kirara, take Miroku to Kagome and Inuyasha. He's really hurt and needs medical attention as soon as possible," she said to the nekomata.

Kirara merely gave a nod before Sango placed Miroku on the cat demons back and the two of them flew away from the battlefield. Their escape plan was, however, interrupted by a horde of crow youkai intent on making sure that no one got out of the village alive.

"Oh no! Kirara look out!" screamed Sango in vain as she realized that her friend couldn't dodge without sending Miroku flying off her back.

"Please, I got this, Sango. They'll need more than a few crows to stop me! **Kitsune Bi: Claw Swipe**!"screamed Shippou as he jumped toward Kirara and swung his right claw in a sweeping arc. His attack decimated any and all crows in the vicinity. "Humph, not even a challenge."

"You may have spoken too soon, fox boy!" screamed an oni that had been hiding in one of the empty huts directly below where Shippou was going to land. He stood about the size and a half of the hut he was hiding in, and wielded a club proportionate to his height. He swung said club at Shippou, only for it to stop halfway through its trajectory.

"Really, Kohaku? Do you have to ruin all of my fun?" asked Shippou as he looked at his brother-in-arms, who was holding his left arm up, palm out, and had a look of intense concentration on his face.

"You looked like you needed my help. Besides, we have to finish this quickly to get everybody to a healer. No time for games!" exclaimed Kohaku as he clenched his outstretched hand into a fist, which coincided with the oni's giant club seemingly crushing itself all the way down to the handle. "You understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't be such a hard ass. **Kitsune Bi: Phoenix Fire**!" screamed Shippou as his right arm was covered in blue flamed that formed itself into the shape of a phoenix. He slammed his fist into the oni, eliciting a scream of pain as it nearly evaporated from the intense heat of Shippou's attack. The technique faded almost as soon as the oni was completely consumed, to which Shippou looked over and surveyed the area.

He noticed that a few villagers were being targeted by another oni, this one much smaller than his last opponent however. He broke out into a mad dash, quickly sealing the gap between the oni and its possible victims, and deftly removed its head with a claw of blue flames. Before he could relish his victory, however, he caught movement in the corner of his eye and dodged a swarm of spider-like demons. He sent a wave of blue fire to protect the people he just saved, and quickly targeted his attackers. Before he could, however, a rain of projectile weapons nailed every single enemy with unerring precision.

"So, finally decided to join the party huh?" asked Shippou with sarcasm and arrogance dripping in every word.

Serina scoffed at him, choosing not to respond, while Suzuna drew her katana and gave the young kitsune a look promising violence of epic proportions. Shippou diffused the situation by looking away and raising his arms in surrender, knowing he had lost his little altercation with the ninja sisters.

From a nearby location, a worm-like demon slammed into a hut, nearly destroying it. From a short distance away, Kohaku was holding his weapon upwards in one hand while the other was pointed at the ground, flexed in the shape of a claw. His hand let go of the kusari-gama, but it floated in mid air instead of dropping to the ground. He flicked his raised hand in a circular motion, causing the blade to spin at a high velocity. He then raised his downward hand, causing the demon to rise from the rubble, severely injured. He then cocked back his raised arm, and did a flinging motion, causing his weapon to fly at the worm youkai like a buzz saw. It cut the demon in half, but Kohaku quickly made an imaginary 'Z' with his hand, which made his weapon come back and cut the demon into smaller bits.

"Talk about overkill," said Shippou to his friend and ally. Kohaku merely grunted and called his weapon back to him. Shippou and the ninja sisters jumped down to rendezvous with the more experienced warrior, quickly making sure the coast was clear before speaking again.

"So, what's the status, ladies?" asked Kohaku with more edge to his voice than his words suggested.

"We lost a number of villagers in the first wave, as everyone was preparing for bed when the demons came. Many slayers are wounded currently, but about a dozen were killed when they hit the dojo. So far, we've driven back or outright killed most of their initial force, but you two came just in time as their reinforcements, which I didn't even know demons could have, came in. Most of the younger slayers are either wounded or defending the wounded, and many of the more experienced are out fighting across the village," answered Suzuna.

"May I ask, are there any more of you coming? The two of you are strong but I fear we may lose many more tonight if you two are the only backup we have," asked Serina with guarded hope and thinly veiled fear.

Shippou chuckled slightly before saying, "Don't worry. We've got everything covered. As a matter of fact..."

His sentenced trailed off as he looked over toward one of walls, being greeted with the sight of a giant man body slamming a mass of demons. The gargantuan followed this up by plowing a glowing blue fist into all of the youkai, causing them to disintegrate as he touched them.

"I think Jinenji has arrived already. A little flashy, but not too spectacular. Also, we have someone guarding the wounded, so many of the younger slayers get to help out in the fight now," said Shippou as he finished his sentence with a hint of excitement.

"Actually, I don't want them to experience any more danger tonight. They've been through enough already. Instead, we comb the village and gather all of the slayers, killing every youkai that pops up. Once we've gathered all of the living, we rendezvous where my sister was when we first arrived. We'll properly sort out the full situation at that time," said Kohaku as he readied his weapon in his right hand. Looking over at his three comrades, they all nodded in agreement, and their countenances were set on carrying out the young man's orders. "Let's move out!"

The three jumped off into the distance, preparing to take back the village in a glorious battle...

**R&D**

_Inside the tower in the Forest of Death..._

Misumi held Sakura in a vice grip, his body contorted around hers in a way so that she couldn't nary move a muscle. The young kunoichi didn't stop from trying, however futile her attempts seemed to be. Misumi merely chuckled at the girl's antics, being amused in the sick sort of way certain predators enjoyed seeing their prey squirm just before the kill.

"Give it up, girl, you aren't getting out of this. Either give up, or I'll snap your neck," said Misumi with unveiled arrogance.

Sakura stopped struggling, but began to smile. Eventually her smile broke into full laughter, which caught nearly the entire arena off guard. None of those who knew why betrayed their secrecy in facial expression nor by voice, as they knew it would soon be revealed in Sakura's next move.

"You know, if this were just a few months ago, I'd go running with my tail between my legs," said Sakura as she began to gather chakra to all parts of her body, " but now? Oh...let's just say bloodline limits are a common theme with my team and I. **Scatter, Senbonzakura**!"

A collective gasp from the crowd watching was met with Sakura dissolving into a mass of cherry blossom petals. The petals flew away, and began to circle Misumi menacingly. The masked genin began frantic efforts to break his chakra flow, as he was absolutely convinced he was within some sort of genjutsu.

At the top, Ino had marched over to Naruto and Kakashi, determined to get answers.

"Naruto, Kakashi-san, what...IS that?" asked the platinum blond girl in both amazement and fear.

"It's her...bloodline limit," said the blond boy through almost gritted teeth. He knew the true origin of her ability, but for all intents and purposes it _was_ a bloodline at this point. At least the tracks were covered to the point where Sakura's children would inherit this power, hiding the fact that she never did.

"Wait, why did you pause there? Are you hiding something, Naruto?" asked Ino in an angered voice.

Nauto cursed under his breath. He hadn't realized he'd paused in the middle of his sentence, but he was quickly thinking of a way to cover up his screw up.

"Naruto has been on the receiving end of her technique in training sessions. More than a few scars on him are from Sakura, right Naruto?" stated Kakashi in a lighthearted voice, with an undertone of seriousness that only Naruto caught.

"Oh yeah...I was trying to forget those, hehehe," said Naruto with a convincing laugh.

Ino, thinking she had gotten the info she needed, left as quickly as she came, and Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

"Kakashi-sensei...thanks for covering me back there."

""Don't mention it. Just...next time be sure to cover your own tracks better. I won't always be there to cover you, Naruto."

The two returned their gaze the arena, and Sakura's petals were still surrounding Misumi. The bespectacled genin had decided he had enough of the games already, and began to form hand seals. However, as he did, the petals formed a dome around him, and began to close in at an alarming speed.

_'If he thinks he's going to use a jutsu at this point, he has another thing coming. **Decimate, Senbonzakura**!'_ thought Sakura as she closed the gap between her and her before the boy could finish forming his first hand seal. A loud scream was heard from the middle of the shifting dome structure that accompanied the sound of flesh being cut.

As Sakura reformed her body a few feet away from Misumi, the damage she inflicted could be seen. Long, deep lacerations were present on nearly every part of his body, tearing his clothes in many places and shattering his glasses. His frames bore wounds as well, and even bits of hair floated in the air as blood spilled from all of his open wounds. Misumi fell to his knees, then to the ground, and was quickly taken by medics to the infirmary. They noticed that Sakura hadn't hit any of the boy's arteries, as the lacerations got shallow as they approached critical areas.

The pink haired girl merely stared at her opponent with cold apathy for a second, before walking slowly to the balcony to return to her team...

* * *

_An open field near the border of Land of Fire and Land of Sound..._

Naruto studied the moves of his mysterious opponent as said opponent took down his horde of shadow clones. From his vantage point, all he could see was a mass of clones and random puffs of smoke as his clones were destroyed. It didn't matter, as he was using a trick he learned from his clones during his battle only a few hours ago with Jirobou.

"Hmm..he isn't using conventional weaponry. Seems like he's using his...bones? How is that possible?" he asked as he studied the movement of his opponent more closely through the memories of his clones. " His movements are too fluid, and his body is near impenetrable anyways."

Naruto jumped in the air, and began gathering Kyuubi's chakra into his stomach, then activated his seal system to form it into both a liquid like state as well as lining his stomach, esophagus, and mouth to protect him from his own jutsu. Once finished, the chakra had transformed into a compressed liquid, and summarily spat it in the direction of Kimimaro. The bone user, seeing this, dodged the attack but not before some of the fluid reached the end of his sword. He merely flicked it with a hand motion, only to notice that the upper part of his sword was now missing.

"Interesting, I have never encountered a technique such as this. May this be genjutsu?" asked Kimimaro as Naruto approached him alone.

Naruto, with his Kyuubi-like limbs activated, stepped over the large puddle of corrosive fluid he spat out only seconds earlier. Unfortunately, it had also taken out all of his clones as they didn't have the luxury of protecting themselves in time. He answered, "If it were genjutsu, wouldn't have cancelling your chakra flow have worked by now?"

Kimimaro gripped his sword a little bit tighter. He knew that Naruto had a large repository of chakra from how callously he used the Kage Bunshin, but the fact that he was able to detect the flow of chakra in a person spoke volumes of control he shouldn't have at his age and experience level. As he prepared to activate his curse seal, two more presences made themselves known.

"Naruto, go on ahead. We will take care of this," said Gaara, the first of the two,who was standing on a platform of sand ten feet above the battlefield.

"I've got this you two. Stand back," said Naruto in a slightly annoyed tone.

Lee, the second presence, was standing directly under Gaara, wearing a necklace with a green and yellow Ying-Yang symbol over his signature jumpsuit and a short braid in the back of his signature bowl cut. He followed up Gaara's statement, saying, "No, Naruto, you must move on ahead. We are aware that you can handle him, but we need you to stop Sasuke before he reaches the border. You know him the best, and are the best equipped to subdue him if necessary."

Naruto's protests ended almost immediately, deciding that arguing the point would only hold him up longer instead of completing the mission. He calmly released his jutsu, causing the 'acid' on the ground to vanish and his fox-like limbs to return to their regular forms before taking off after Sasuke. Kimimaro made a move to stop him, but a wall of sand separated him from the blond ninja.

"Hmmm...interesting, did you want to pursue Naruto to stop him from getting to Sasuke...or is it that you have some special interest in him?" asked Gaara in his monotone voice, but a hint of sarcastic humor was evident.

Kimimaro remained silent while drawing another bone sword from his left arm.

"Hmph, and here I thought the Hyuuga girl was the only one with a crush on him. My apologies," said Gaara, again with a monotone voice.

Despite years of training against the use of such methods, Kimimaro couldn't help but twitch his eyebrow slightly at Gaara's comment. He couldn't place at what part of the comment offended him to the point where he would actually show emotion, but he knew deep down inside that these two would have to die for this transgression against his character.

"The only thing I will crush are the two of you. Prepare to die..._trash_."

* * *

A/N: Hope that appeases you folks down for a while. Im working on a few things that should keep things rolling. Anyway, until next time.


	4. NaruXThor Fusion preview

**A/N**: **_An idea that's been bouncing around in my head. I admit that a lot of my newer ideas come from inspirations from _M2J Mandalorian Jedi_. The idea of doing fusions comes from him, not me, but the ideas of what to fuse are all original to my knowledge. This particular one focuses is a fusion between Naruto and Marvel's Thor. It kinda came to me when reading all his Avengers fusion ideas and thought it would be fun to try out._**

**KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-**

Shukaku roared as he crushed another part of the forest. His search for his small blond opponent was proving to be fruitless, but he continued with it nonetheless. The boy had power, a power he hadn't felt for a very long time. One that had thought to have been long since extinct. He couldn't be allowed to live any longer.

"For whom does thou searchest, beast of the one tail?" asked a familiar voice with a strange tone and accent.

Shukaku looked behind him to see a floating boy carrying a hammer. His countenance had changed from a mixture of fear and guarded confidence in his skills, to boldly arrogant fury. The hammer he was carrying had sections near the ends of the head with ancient runic engraving that were glowing fiercely.

"**So...the nine tails just so happened to be sealed in one of **_**his**_** descendants. This would be a more interesting fight if you were at full power. Nonetheless, you must die now before you can reach the pinnacle of that which you hold,**" said the hulking sand monster.

Naruto responded saying, "Doth you think of me as weak? I, the God of Thunder!"

The blond held his hammer towards the sky, instantly causing storm clouds to form. Naruto began to channel chakra into the weapon, causing a surge of electrical energy to shoot straight up into the cloud. Shukaku, knowing what was coming soon, inhaled deeply, filling his makeshift lungs completely with air before saturating it with chakra. As he raised his fist to slam into his chest, he noticed that his time was running out as his opponent's attack was almost ready as well.

"**Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet**!" roared Shukaku as he slammed his fist into his chest and released the compressed ball of air.

"**Raging Lightning**!" screamed Naruto with glowing blue eyes as he pointed the top of the hammer at Shukaku, and a lightning bolt struck the hammer's head and was redirected towards the sand creature.

The wind bullet initially had a clear advantage in both power and elemental apititude, but Naruto suddenly smirked and ten more bolts of lightning struck his hammer and increased the power of his initial strike. The lightning strike decimated the weaker wind blast and struck the sand beast directly in its abdomen.

Shukaku howled loudly as the attack ripped through his sand body, and quickly ejected Gaara from the top of his body. The sand began to loosen and dissolve back into its natural form, just as the second half of Naruto's attack came in the form of lightning bolts from the sky striking it endlessly.

Naruto smirked at his victory, only to be overcome with an overwhelming numbness in his body. His surge of power vanished almost instantly, and the numbness quickly turned into excruciating pain. He wanted to scream out in pain, but found that his nerves weren't responding to his commands. He began to fall as the power that sustained his flight was no longer capable of holding him up, but he was caught by an abnormally long tongue before he could hit the tree line...

**KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-**

"I have to learn what now?" asked the blond while staring incredulously at his sensei.

"Lightning natured chakra. You have to learn how to both create and control it, Naruto," replied Kakashi in a serious, yet somehow deadpan voice.

"But why?"

"While you were gone on your journey with Jiraiya, right after that debacle in Snow Country, I deduced that your lightning attacks from Mjolnir are unique in the fact that they don't use lightning _chakra_, but actual lightning. The damage to your body comes from the fact that you are redirecting the lightning using your hammer, and by extension, your body as a conduit," explained the silver haired jounin.

"Okay, but what does lightning natured chakra have to do with this?"

"Lightning natured chakra can guide actual lightning, like how wind and water natured chakra controls their counterparts. That side of it is usually under valued, as most just think about the generation of the electrical forces. However, since your hammer can generate large amounts of ambient electricity on its own, all you need is to be able to properly wield it."

"So if I learn how to use lightning chakra I can use my other attacks? ALL RIGHT! Where do I start?"

Kakashi pulled out a familiar set of bells from his pocket and held them up in front of Naruto. The blond groaned before slapping his palm against his face in disgust.

"Not the bell exercise again!" he exclaimed.

Kakashi chuckled before elaborating, saying, "No, I'm not asking you to take the bells from me, Naruto. What I want you to do instead, is create an electric charge between them using only your chakra."

"Wait...what?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Kakashi merely chuckled as he tossed the bells at his student, walking away saying, "Good luck."

The killing intent from Naruto's glare would have killed a lesser man, but Kakashi merely brushed it off and continued at a leisurely pace.

**KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-KW-NT-**

A shrouded man holding a long, elegantly designed spear walked slowly up a mountain cliff before turning towards the two people running to catch him.

"So, you've come. I expected that seed of abomination to follow me, but you, Ino? I thought you were above such company."

"How dare you insult me? You don't even know me, scum," Ino said as she drew her sword and got into a battle ready stance.

"Now, now Ino. Let's not allow the words of a stranger rile us up," said Naruto as he stepped in front of his fellow blond. "No use fighting senselessly like bilchsteim."

"Ummm, like what, Naruto?" Ino replied in a confused voice.

"ARGH! I'm sorry, sometimes I use really, really old words or make jokes about stuff I don't know about. Stupid hammer," Naruto said while sending a glare at Mjolnir.

The cloaked figure chuckled before saying, "You two really are children. I guess it's to be expected from such village of hypocrites and warmongers."

"Hmph, big words from such a little man. I suppose it's to be expected, considering who you are, coward," said Naruto as he grabbed the hilt of his hammer and held it loosely in his hand.

"Hmph, you surely jest. I may be the god of mischief, but I'm far from a coward."

"No, Loki. I know who you _really_ are."

Ino stared at her friend, in a mixture of surprise and confusion. She wanted to comment, but then she noticed that the figure's posture had shifted ever so slightly, noting that he was worried about what Naruto was saying.

"You're lying. You aren't nearly intelligent enough to discern my identity," responded 'Loki'.

"And in that you are correct. But, you see, the reverse also holds truth. I knew not of whom you were, until you mentioned 'seed of an abomination'. From then, I knew exactly who you were, friend," said Naruto in a confident manner. He smirked as he held up his hammer and said, "But even I don't know why you would go through such _troublesome_ means such as this to kill me."

Ino's eyes widened, dropping both her sword and her jaw as the full implications of Naruto's accusation fell upon her.

"Wait, that's impossible...he'd never...," she said before she was cut off by a blast of blue energy from the hooded man's spear.

"Hmph, I guess I'm outed then," said 'Loki' as he pulled off his hood to reveal a very familiar face...


	5. AtLA: Legend of the Iron Fist sample

**A/N: **One of those ideas I play with a lot. Was thinking about basing characters in one series off of another and came up with this. Huge divergence from the beginning of the series, with most things happening the same more or less until the North Pole.

**KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF**

"Where did he go?"

"No clue, keep searching. Phoenix King Ozai wants the Avatar found. He remains alive. HIs friends, not so much."

The conversation held between two Fire Nation soldiers about ten miles out from the city of New Ozai was overheard by a young man wearing blue Water Tribe clothing, with a tattered cloak covering his body.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Water Tribe people aren't supposed to leave their designated pole or reservation without an explicit order from the Phoenix King!" said the first soldier.

"Phoenix King? Man you Fire Nation guys just get more and more auspicious as time goes on. Besides, I'm not technically from there….not anymore," responded the young man, trying to hide the greater part of his emotions.

"Why you little…"

The two soldiers, spears at the ready, began to approach the cloaked young man when he suddenly struck out and broke both spears with his bare hands. He then clenched his hands into fists and struck both men directly in the solar plexus, his hands glowing a soft yellow as he struck. The armor on the men bent at his punch, and the wind in their lungs promptly exited with haste.

Both men fell to the ground gasping and writhing in pain, but one managed to toss a flare into the air, causing movement from nearly everywhere surrounding the area. Within a minute, the young Water Tribe man was surrounded by both normal soldiers as well as firebenders, war machines, and a few beasts of burden.

"You've got some nerve interrupting an Avatar Search. Especially after he just released an Earth Kingdom noble from prison. So, who are you, kid? asked the lieutenant as he stepped forward.

"Since you asked so nicely, my name is Sokka, of the Lion-Turtle of K'un-Lun, formerly of the Southern Water Tribe."

Contrary to what Sokka had been expecting, a chorus of laughter erupted from the clearing, with a few soldiers wiping tears from their eyes. Sokka merely sighed and wondered why nobody believed his story whenever he told it.

"That was a good one, kid. You almost made me believe something like 'lion turtles' existed. Now, come quietly before…."

The lieutenant never got to finish his sentence as a gust of wind blew him twenty meters away. All of the soldiers began to scramble into formations, but they were quickly foiled as the earth beneath them would either encapsulate them almost immediately or simply give way, causing many to fall to unknown depths.

Two firebenders attempted to capture Sokka, but he dodged their fire blasts and struck their mask with glowing palm strikes, causing them to shatter and their noses to break. He then grabbed one of them and shoved him into the other, causing them to fly about five meters away from the force.

As the remaining men retreated, a force of about eight people, all teenagers, approached Sokka cautiously. He could see that six had clear cut Earth Kingdom clothing on, while one had a Fire Nation prisoner's outfit, and the last was dressed in monk's robes.

"Hey, you said your name was Sokka, correct? What are you doing here? It's dangerous out here, in case you didn't know before," said the teenage monk.

"I can take care of myself, but thanks for the help. You wouldn't happen to be Avatar Aang would you? Clothes give it away, even if the arrow tattoos aren't visible."

Aang merely lowered his head, and the small girl in prisoner's clothes shouted, "Hey! If you're here to air grievances about the Avatar and his job, save it! We're doing the best we can! So whatever your particular sad sop story is…"

"Toph, don't be so militant, let him say what he has to say. I'm used to it by now," said the Avatar as he interrupted his incensed comrade.

"Actually, I think our goals are in line with each other. I'm on a quest to find something that I believe that we _both_ need," said Sokka calmly.

"Oh yeah, and what could you _possibly_ offer us?" asked Toph defiantly.

"I believe he knows my sister, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. I also believe you know where she's being held in this Spirits-forsaken world you all call home. Help me find and release her, and I'll help you defeat the Phoenix King. Do we have a deal?"

"As much as I really want to save Katara, she's locked in Lake Laogai and surrounded by elite benders from two nations. And even though I saw you take down those firebenders, that could have just been beginners luck…"

Aang's sentence ended before he wanted when Sokka, in a burst of speed that was too fast to be considered anything near normal, appeared in front of him and threw a glowing punch into the ground, forming a large crater in right in front of the Avatar.

"Don't underestimate the power of energybending, Mr. Aang. I've spent years mastering the art in order to achieve the title of Iron Fist, but your little snafu with the Fire Nation got my sister in jail. So I'm here to save her, with your help or not. Are you in?" asked Sokka as he slowly stood in the the crater he created.

Aang looked at his rag-tag team for any sort of opinion, but all of them were too shell shocked by Sokka's demonstration to speak. So Aang turned to the martial artist and said, "Well, since there aren't any objections, I would say we have a deal."

**KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF-KW-IF**

**A/N: **So, good, bad, ugly, mid-way between any of those? Any sort of interest shown heightens the likelihood that this gets written, so review or PM if you'd like to see it. R&D should be on the way soon.


	6. Spider-Nin

**A/N**: One of those times you get an idea and it really doesn't die. So, recently, I've been thinking over the 'cliches' of Naruto fanfiction, new and old. Stuff like the 'covered in fox pictures', Sharingan!Naruto, etc., and I came upon one that I remember from way back when the Maguire/Raimi films were still...liked: Spider-Man!Naruto.

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Well, most of them were just "He's related to Kidomaru or learns his clan's jutsu" or something, but I wanted to take a small crack at it, without revealing _too_ much, in a different view. So, enjoy.

It was the first time Naruto had been out since the 'spider-bite' put him in the hospital, strange since he'd never been _in_ a hospital before. And before that day about a week or so ago, Naruto really hadn't given it much thought.

Clad in all navy with a hood over his head and a mask over his face, an outfit he had managed to throw together with some creative purchases in the market earlier, Naruto noticed for the first time that he felt...strange. Good strange.

When he jumped from tree to tree and landed, he didn't need to use chakra to enhance his strength or soften his landing. His joints felt so incredibly smooth that he could fully unflex his quadriceps, knees still bent, and then push off a branch without feeling any side effects on his hip joints. His senses were sharper, not terribly much so but it was noticeable.

He felt, in a word, _alive_. His body was stronger, faster, and more agile than he'd ever imagined, all without the benefits of chakra. He didn't even want to think what he could do if he incorporated his prior training in with this!

A rustle of leaves broke Naruto's reverie, reminding him why he'd taken off into the forest dressed in navy blue to blend into the night better, as he was smart enough to know that the trained eye could spot black in any visibility above pitch-black, even though he was only an academy student fresh out of the academy.

Apparently, someone in the Hokage's office had made off with the Forbidden Scroll somehow, and was escaping in the forest. So Naruto, a budding stealth expert, decided to make it his mission to find the traitor before anyone else could. He would, however, merely try and signal other ninja to his location after doing so, seeing as how he'd failed the Genin Exam only a week before. Even if the only portion he 'failed' was that stupid Bunshin no jutsu.

Naruto followed the sound he'd picked up on with his senses and found two Konoha-nin in the middle of a small clearing, one laying on the ground bleeding and the other holding a shuriken preparing to kill the other. He fought the urge to jump in and fight, mostly because the one poised to kill the other had just begun his monologue and information was king in the shinobi business.

"Even though you managed to find me, Iruka, it would seem as though your time as a teacher has dulled your skills considerably. Even the Kyuubi brat could have seen that coming," said the uninjured ninja, who Naruto could now identify as one of his former sensei, Mizuki.

"Mizuki, after all this time, you'd really betray the village? And everyone in it? You're disgusting, and don't dare speak of Naruto like that!" said Iruka defiantly, before being kicked in his injured ribs.

Naruto froze in place, dropping the flare he had prepared to throw. Iruka defending was one thing, but somehow he was...the Kyuubi no Yoko? Before he could make any rash decisions on his status, however, Iruka tossed a kunai, which Mizuki easily dodged, and went directly for Naruto's forehead. A strange sense of near-precognition sent shockwaves through his body, making do a hasty dodge move where he rotated his body at an odd angle, causing the kunai to bury itself in the tree trunk right behind him.

"Hmph, figures you'd defend the fox. You know it's just biding its time until it can get out again and wreak havoc on the village," said Mizuki.

"No, you know as well as I do that the fox is sealed _safely_ inside Naruto. It's not getting out, and Naruto isn't the fox!"

"Semantics. Anyway, I've spent too much time here, time for you to die, old friend."

As Mizuki threw the Fuma shuriken, he was not counting on a black dart to zip out of the treeline, intercepting his projectile before it hit its target and be thrown back at him in a manner of milliseconds. He was, however, able to dodge the intercepted weapon and allowed it to pass by him.

The black figure settled in a low stance where his knees were off the ground by about an inch, one hand was on the ground with it's upper body still facing Mizuki.

"Who are you?" asked Mizuki, confused by the new development.

Naruto, having just now realized his identity was basically hidden by his mask and such, had a small dilemma. He wanted to shout to the world his real name and kick some sense into his former sensei, but he knew if he didn't keep his identity a secret Mizuki would find a way to use Iruka to beat him even faster.

And so, with an agile flip into the air while preparing to kick Mizuki into next week, Naruto spoke a sentence that would soon be infamous throughout the Elemental Countries.

"Who am I? Just your friendly, neighborhood Spider-Nin!"

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So, figured I didn't want to put _too _many plot points into the fic, but I think it'll definitely be worth a visit.

Still working on the second chapters of all my current fics, at least one should be done within the week. Happy Holidays anyway!


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